Peter A. Hempel began as a teacher of literature and writing in the English Department at the University of Texas at Austin. His post-academic career as a political and market research consultant has taken him to more than 40 countries on six continents, from war zones to Caribbean beaches, listening to people - from taxi drivers to CEOs - talk about their lives, their jobs, and their deepest desires. He has spent over 15 years living in Texas, and enjoyed several spiritually enlightening years teaching two-step in an Austin honky-tonk. Politically he is a stalwart New Deal Liberal/Timothy Leary Conservative. His fiction has been published in the Princeton Echo and online at Red Fez, Every Day Fiction, Free Flash Fiction, and Vestal Review. He has an A.B. from Princeton University, an M.A. from Rice University, and a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin, where he enjoyed swimming outdoors at Barton Springs.